Ismael Urzaiz Aranda (; born 7 October 1971) is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. Best known for his physical strength and aerial ability, the unsuccessful youth graduate at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

went on to represent seven other teams during his extensive career, mainly

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

where he spent 11 years. Over 16 seasons, he amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 445 matches and 131 goals (61 headers, record of the competition). Urzaiz appeared 25 times for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, representing the national team at

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Tudela, Navarre Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Navarre and twice a former Latin bishopric. Its population is around 35,000. The city is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electri ...

, Urzaiz began his professional career at

's reserves, joining the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

from local Tudelano in 1985 and making his debut in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

four years later. Despite being a successful youth international, he did not make any

appearances for the first team (however, he did play one game against Danish club OB, in the

1990–91 European Cup The 1990–91 European Cup was the 36th season of the European Cup, a tournament for men's football clubs in nations affiliated to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). It was won for the first time by Red Star Belgrade on penalties ...

). Urzaiz spent the 1991–92 season on loan at

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, making his top-flight debut when he came on as a substitute in a 4–0 home win against

on 20 October 1991. In early 1993, he was loaned to

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

in the same league.

Professional journeyman

Urzaiz left Real Madrid permanently in 1993, and in the following three seasons he played for

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

and Espanyol, with a very modest scoring rate in the first two teams. He helped Salamanca to win promotion to the top tier in 1995, scoring twice as they beat Albacete 5–0 in the play-offs following a 2–0 home loss in the first leg. The following campaign, Urzaiz joined Espanyol for 35 million pesetas and exploded as a first-rate attacking player, netting 13 league goals for a side that eventually finished fourth, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against his former club Rayo Vallecano for a 4–2 home victory on 14 April 1996.

Athletic Bilbao

The form of a revived Urzaiz attracted interest, and in summer 1996 he joined Athletic Bilbao for a 500 million pesetas fee, being eligible for the all-Basque team having been born in Navarre. In eleven seasons, he scored 115 goals in 367 league appearances. In 1997–98, his eight successful strikes in 32 matches helped to a runner-up finish, which led to direct qualification for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, where he scored once in seven games. Urzaiz scored in double figures in six of his campaigns at the San Mamés Stadium, but the emergence of youth graduate

Fernando Llorente Fernando Javier Llorente Torres (; born 26 February 1985), nicknamed ''El Rey León'' ("The Lion King" in Spanish), is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Athletic Bilbao, working his w ...

– even taller at – prompted his exit in July 2007; he still featured in 35 competitive games in his final year, coincidentally also his age by its end, but only completed the 90 minutes in six of them. As well as being only the 14th player (at that point) to pass 400 appearances for Athletic, Urzaiz's total of 419 games set a club record for a player from Navarre which stood until 2020 when overtaken by Iker Muniain.

Ajax

On 19 July 2007, Urzaiz signed a one-year contract with

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, joining fellow Spaniards Gabri and

Albert Luque Albert Luque Martos (born 11 March 1978) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left winger or striker. His 14-year professional career was mainly associated with Mallorca and Deportivo, and he amassed La Liga totals of 248 matches a ...

. He made his official debut on 15 August, in the Champions League qualifier against

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

(1–0 home loss, 18 minutes played). Urzaiz was released by the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

club after just three

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

appearances, announcing his retirement at nearly 37 shortly afterwards.

International career

Urzaiz represented

at the

1988 UEFA European Under-16 Championship The 1988 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 6th edition of the UEFA's European Under-16 Football Championship. Spain hosted the 16 teams entered the competition during 11–21 May 1988. Italy did not defend its win in the previous year ...

on home soil, helping his country to win the tournament. He also scored four goals for the under-20 team at the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIF ...

, held in Portugal. On 10 October 1996, Urzaiz made his debut for the senior side, a 0–0 away draw with the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

qualifiers. Over the next three years he made only three more appearances and failed to score, but emerged as the hero as Spain

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, netting six times in three games – this included two against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and a hat-trick against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. After a further two in a friendly with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, he was picked for the final stages in Belgium and the Netherlands. The recipient of 25

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with eight goals, Urzaiz made his last international appearance in a 3–0 friendly loss to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, in 2001. Between 1997 and 2005 he also played seven times for the Basque Country representative team, scoring twice in a 3–2 win over

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in 2000.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Urzaiz goal.''

Honours

Spain U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Individual *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

: Silver Shoe 1991

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Urzaiz, Ismael 1971 births Living people People from Tudela, Navarre Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Navarre Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Albacete Balompié players RC Celta de Vigo players Rayo Vallecano players UD Salamanca players RCD Espanyol footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Eredivisie players AFC Ajax players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands